


Give Me The Time For One Song

by ladyc2



Category: KAT-TUN (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-08
Updated: 2015-07-08
Packaged: 2018-04-08 07:24:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4295829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyc2/pseuds/ladyc2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ueda's having trouble with his new song</p>
            </blockquote>





	Give Me The Time For One Song

Ueda shrugged his backpack more firmly up onto his shoulder as he knocked on Maruyama's door. He’d been having trouble with his latest effort at song writing for a while now and when he’d mentioned the problem to Maruyama one night when they’d been out for a meal together, he’d come up with a rather unexpected solution of getting Yasuda Shota to look over his lyrics. Ueda was grateful that Maruyama was able to set it up at such short notice. Still, it was a little nerve-wracking, he normally didn’t show anyone his work until it was completed.

"Ueda-kun, you're here! Come in, come in." Maru greeted enthusiastically as he opened the door, gesturing for him to come in at the same time.

"Thanks," Ueda replied as he stepped into Maru's apartment. Another pair of shoes was already lined up in the genkan. 

"There is a little problem," Maru said as he took Ueda’s jacket and hung it up. "Unfortunately Sho-chan couldn't make it."

Oh, Ueda tried not to look too disappointed. It was probably too much to ask for anyway. He only had one shoelace untied and Ueda wondered whether he should just tie it back up and make some excuse to leave.

"But don't worry, I got a replacement," Maru went on. 

That explained the other pair of shoes. Ueda wondered who it was; he supposed he may as well find out. He finished taking off his shoes and stepped into the apartment. That's when he noticed Nishikido Ryo sitting on Maru's couch. 

Ueda stopped dead in his tracks. "You're kidding me?"

Beside him Maru frowned briefly at Ueda’s tone. "Ryo's great at song writing. He'll be able to help for sure."

_Really not the point,_ Ueda thought. 

"Just shut up and give me what you've got." Ryo stated from where he was sitting.

Ueda bristled at the tone, but he couldn't deny he needed the help and at this point, he'd take it from anyone. He dropped his backpack to the floor and opened it, pulling out the notebook with his lyrics and some sheet music. He handed it silently to Ryo.

"What's the problem exactly?" Ryo asked as he started looking over it.

The million dollar question. Ueda bit back the urge to say that if he knew that he wouldn’t be here. Instead he settled for, "I'm not sure. I like the music and I like the lyrics, and I think they match well together - but something feels...” And that’s where his explanation came unstuck. “Ugh! I don't even know."

"I'll go make some coffee," Maru called out as he made for the kitchen.

Ueda perched himself on the arm of a chair as he waited for Ryo's assessment. It seemed to take forever.  
Finally, Ryo looked up from the paper.

"Well, you can't use _these_ lyrics, that's for sure." 

"Why not?" Even though he'd known something was off with his latest attempts to write, Ueda's initial reaction was still to defend. "I thought they were pretty good."

Ryo hummed in agreement, throwing Ueda off balance. "They're great lyrics." 

Before Ueda could say that that made no sense, Ryo continued.

"But if you sing them you may as well go to the top of Tokyo Tower and hang a banner proclaiming that you're in love with Kame."

"What?" Ueda snatched the lyrics back off Ryo. _In love with Kame_ , that's the most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard. He scanned the lyrics; he hadn’t mentioned Kame once in them, he was sure of it.  
He floundered around for something to counter Ryo’s words with. "You're reading too much into it."

"Because fans _never_ read too much into things," Ryo drawled sarcastically. "Why don't we get a second opinion?" He held the book up to Maru who was just coming back from the kitchen balancing three cups.

Maru shook his head, "I don't think it would help - I've known Ueda-kun's in love with Kame-chan for a while now."

" _What?_ " Ueda choked out. _Was this some sort of prank?_

Maru put two of the cups on the table and then held out the third in Ueda's direction, a smile of what Ueda supposed was reassurance on his face. "Don't worry it's not a big deal."

"You're both crazy." he muttered, ignoring the coffee and slamming his notebook down onto the chair. "I am _not_ in love with Kame. No way, no how."

Ryo shrugged, like it didn't matter one way or the other to him. 

"That’s not what your lyrics are saying."

“My lyrics say no such thing,” Ueda hissed. “I knew this would be a waste of time.”

And with that he stormed to the genkan, grabbed his shoes – not even bothering to put them on – and left.

~

The next day, sitting on the couch in KAT-TUN’s dressing room, Ueda hands curled around his phone. Maru had tried phoning him a few times and even left a text to apologise. Ueda was pretty sure he was the one who should have been apologising but last night he’d been too worked up to do more than ignore it. In the cold light of day, he could concede he’d overreacted, but their suggestions had just been so, so, preposterous. He looked over to where Kame, Nakamaru and Junno were discussing which songs to incorporate into their next medley for Shounen Club Premium.

He could admit he cared for Kame, but wasn’t it just the same way he cared for Nakamaru and Junno. The four of them had been through a lot over the years since KAT-TUN was formed and it had made them closer. It’s not like his heart went _‘doki doki’_ every time Kame was in close proximity. _Did it?_

Well there was only one way to test that. Ueda stood and moved towards the others. He paused just outside Kame’s personal space. His heart already felt like it was beating a little faster, but that was probably just nerves; how would he tell the difference though.

Junno caught his eye,

“What do you think Uepi?”

Ueda took the final few steps, deliberately leaning over Kame’s shoulder to look at the song choices scribbled out on a piece of paper.

“Looks good,” Ueda replied. Truth was, with Kame’s scent suddenly filling his senses, the words had gone a little blurry so he still had no idea which songs had been chosen.

“Everything okay? You seem a little distracted today.” Nakamaru asked.

Ueda forced a smile. “Yeah, just got some things on my mind.”

“You’re new song?” Kame guessed turning his head but not making any further moves to leave Ueda’s personal space. Ueda found his focus again – Kame’s lips. The thought ran through Ueda’s mind that if they were any closer, they’d be kissing.

Ueda gulped, stepping back before he actually acted on that thought. Outside of Kame’s personal space his thinking cleared up a little and he remembered that he’d been asked a question. He nodded. “I guess I’ve run into a roadblock.”

“Well, I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” Nakamaru encouraged. The others nodded agreement and Ueda was infinitely grateful that no-one offered to try and help; he wasn’t sure how he’d get out of that.  
~

A few days later Ueda was back in Maru's apartment. A few days in which he’d paid careful attention to his reactions, thoughts and feelings around Kame. He was not sulking.

"So, assuming I am in," he cleared his throat which had suddenly seized up, "have, some sort of feelings, for...," _God, he couldn't even say it._ "Now what?"

Maru smiled at him. "Confess," he suggested.

"Like hell," Nishikido retorted before Ueda could respond. When Ueda turned to look at him in surprise, Ryo was glaring. "What? You think you're the first person to get a crush on a co-worker. Just ditch the lyrics, start over and ignore it.”

"I still think confessing is a better idea." Maru put in.

"And if he says he's not interested back?" Nishikido asked. He still sounded angry.

"At least you'd know for sure how he feels. Then you could move on knowing you at least tried."

"And in the meantime make everything all awkward between you.” 

"It's awkward anyway."

"Not for him, he doesn't know."

Ueda looked back and forth between the two. Somehow he got the feeling they weren’t talking about him and Kame anymore.

"You really think he hasn't noticed?" Maru’s questioned confirmed Ueda’s suspicions.

"It could ruin everything," Ryo said finally.

"You're both professional's and you both love the group. _You've_ more than proved that. You could work through it.” Maru insisted. “Besides, he might not say no."

“Or he might.” 

“Uh, this isn’t really helping.” Ueda tried to butt in, before Maru could reply again.

"This is stupid, do whatever the hell you want." 

This time it was Ryo who stormed out of the apartment.

~

Ueda spent the next week thinking about Ryo and Maru’s argument.

_It's awkward anyway_

_Not for him, he doesn't know._

Except that Kame did seem to know; not that Ueda was in love with him, he hadn't turned into a mind reader, or at least Ueda hoped not. Since coming to the realisation of his feelings for the younger though, he couldn’t help but act differently around him, and Kame had noticed that something was off. He'd started hesitating, choosing his words carefully. Ueda sighed; things were so much better when they were both oblivious.

~ 

Ueda had finally come to a decision – he had to tell Kame. Once he’d made his choice though he knew he had to do it straight away or he’d probably chicken out. Unfortunately, between photo shoots and rehearsals there wasn’t a lot of free time on this particular day, so when Ueda found himself alone with Kame in the dressing room (Nakamaru and Junno were just finishing up their solo shots on their latest photo shoot), he knew it was now or never. He strode up to Kame, who was looking for something in his bag, and grabbed his arm to catch his attention. When Kame looked up at him, Ueda dropped his own hand.

"Can we talk?"

Kame's eyes widened in surprise. "Um, sure," he answered, his tongue darting out to swipe his bottom lip, betraying his nervousness. 

Ueda moved to the couch and sat down, wiping his sweaty hands on his jeans and looking at anything but the man in front of him. He'd thought about this speech all night, even writing it down and practicing in front of the mirror, but faced with the real Kame, his tongue suddenly felt like it was made of jelly. Still he had to try, so he pushed on. He focused on his knees and began to speak.

"I just want you to know that KAT-TUN is really important to me - maybe the most important thing and-”

"No," Kame breathed in horror, interrupting Ueda’s spiel. Ueda looked up to see a look of utter distress on Kame's features. "You're leaving too."

"What? No!" Ueda jumped up trying to catch Kame as he backed away. He'd meant his words to be reassuring, to show Kame that no matter how he reacted to Ueda's confession, no matter how awkward it got, that Ueda was sticking around, sticking it out. Kame hadn't taken it that way though. 

“You can’t leave,” Kame was mumbling over and over. 

To make matters worse, Nakamaru and Junno took just that moment to enter the dressing room.

“Who’s leaving?” Nakamaru asked. 

“No-one,” Ueda snapped. _This was not going well at all._

“Ueda,” Kame said at the same time, turning away.

“Uepi?” The plaintive tone in Junno’s voice nearly broke Ueda; he needed to fix this.

He grabbed Kame's shoulders and spun him around to face him, "I'm not leaving KAT-TUN."

Kame's eyes darted, seeming to search for the truth in Ueda's face. Whether he found it or not Ueda wasn't sure but he calmed down a little, though he was still tense. "Then what?" he asked, voice shaky.

Ueda let his hands fall from Kame's shoulders, turning away so the other couldn't see his face. "Maybe this was a bad idea." Ryo had been right after all, it would have been better if he'd said nothing. 

Kame wasn't about to let it go that easily. "You can't just…” 

Nakamaru put a hand on his shoulder, the grip was tighter than it normally would have been and there was an edge to his voice as he said, “I think you should properly explain what’s happening.”

"I'm in love with you, all right!" Ueda spat out. 

Nakamaru looked alarmed. “With me!?”

Ueda shook his head. “Not you, him!” He stabbed his finger at Kame.

Time appeared to come to a grinding halt as three faces stared at him in shock.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Ueda muttered quietly. He grabbed his bag and headed for the door. As he opened it he paused, looking out into the corridor. "Like I said, I'm not leaving - just thought you should know why things have been weird lately, and that it might stay that way for a while until I can get over you."

And with that he left.

 

~

After his confession, Ueda had wanted to go home, bury himself in his blankets and just forget about the whole day. There was still work to do, however, so Ueda settled for finding an empty dressing room and trying to work out how to act normal when rehearsal time began. He picked up a magazine someone had left lying on the table – maybe taking his mind off of things would help.

Ueda kept his eyes on the magazine, even if he’d given up any pretence of actually reading it long ago, as the door opened. Not that he needed to look up to know it was Kame who’d entered. His hands tightened slightly around the edges of the magazine as Kame settled onto the couch next to him, closer than he was expecting. He was even more surprised when Kame laid his head onto Ueda’s shoulder. A couple of weeks ago it wouldn’t have surprised Ueda at all, but a couple of weeks ago he hadn’t confessed. Maybe he could take it as a good sign though – that Kame wasn’t going to treat him differently even after his confession. 

“Nakamaru’s worried,” Kame said softly after a few moments.

“He doesn’t have to be. I meant what I said earlier. I won’t let KAT-TUN go, even if I have to chain you all to me to keep you here.”

Kame laughed, his breath tickling Ueda neck.

“That could make concerts a little hard to pull off.”

Ueda snorted. “Oh please, the fans would love it. In fact I bet most of them thought our Chain tour would contain literal chains. Wall to wall bondage.”

“Maybe we could use that idea for next time.”

They both laughed this time. 

“You’re not being fair, you know,” Kame whined and Ueda imagined he was pouting quite magnificently right now. 

“You can’t just say…,” Kame paused then started over. “You can’t drop a bombshell like that and then run off.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t,” Kame warned, tensing up, “You’ve got nothing to apologise for. You can’t help how you feel.”

“I meant for running off. Seemed like sticking around would have just made things more awkward.”

They lapsed back into silence.

“How long?” Kame asked eventually.

Ueda shrugged. “Not sure, I didn’t realise at first. You remember I was having trouble with my song?” He could feel Kame nodding, so he carried on. “I wanted to ask Yasuda-kun for help, but Maruyama brought Nishikido along instead.”

“I bet you loved that,” Kame seemed amused. Ueda ignored the jibe.

“Nishikido thought the song was about you.”

Kame sat up in what Ueda assumed was surprise at that. “And you believed him? He was probably just yanking your chain.”

“I know, but then Maru said that he thought I was in love with you too.” 

“Nishikido and Maruyama-kun,” Kame chuckled, before resting his head back on Ueda’s shoulder. “Your confession’s looking less credible by the second.”

“It’s not like I just blindly accepted their words,” Ueda argued. “I thought about it, thought about you.” Ueda trailed off. There was nothing really to say beyond that, nothing he could put into words anyway.

“Can I look?” Kame’s voice was soft and unsure.

Ueda nodded. He indicated to the bag at his feet and Kame sat up, removing his head from Ueda’s shoulder so he could lean over and grab it out. He handed the words to Kame silently. Surprisingly he didn’t feel nervous; after all he’d already confessed and been rejected – what else was there to worry about. Kame read quietly and Ueda went back to staring at his magazine.

Ueda did tense up though as Kame put the lyrics down. “I accept,” Kame said. 

Ueda was prepared for this, “its okay, you don’t have to ex… What?” he asked as Kame’s actual words broke through the rejection he was expecting to hear.

“Want to know a secret?” Kame asked instead, making Ueda wonder if he had misheard after all. When Ueda didn’t answer, Kame carried on, “I had such a crush on you when we were juniors.”

“You did?” _That_ was not what Ueda was expecting to hear.

Kame patted his knee. “Don’t get yourself too worked up; I had a lot of crushes back then. I was having a hard time figuring myself out. Girls, boys, it seemed like just about everybody was turning my head, and most of the time I didn’t really know what to make of it.”

“You never said anything.”

“I never said anything to anybody.” Kame seemed perturbed at even the thought of doing such a thing.  
“The thing is I look back at most of those crushes and all I can think is ‘What was I thinking?’” Kame turned to face him. “But not with you. You I get.”

“Really?” Ueda was having a hard time processing this conversation. _Was Kame interested or not?_

“Don’t get me wrong I haven’t been pining over you silently for years or anything, but it’s like a fond memory – or maybe a wish I tucked away in the back of my mind. And now here you are saying that the wish could come true. I’d be stupid not to take the chance wouldn’t I?” 

Kame looked hopeful and nervous at the same time. It all clicked into place in Ueda’s mind and he felt himself relax, probably for the first time since he’d realised his feeling for Kazuya. Kame however still seemed to be unsure; he was starting to babble.

“Of course, just because you say it won’t affect KAT-TUN, doesn’t mean it won’t. There’s my side of things too. And there’s Nakamaru and Taguchi – I don’t think they’d have a problem with it, but it’s probably best to keep them informed. We’d need to figure out how to deal with things if we fight or if we need some space – “

“Kazuya,” Ueda interrupted.

“Hmmm,” Kame replied still lost in his thoughts.

“As Nishikido would say – shut up.” And to make sure Kame did, Ueda kissed him thoroughly. Ueda was a little worried about that stuff too, but right now he just wanted to enjoy the moment. They could figure all that stuff out later.


End file.
